My Brutally Honest View on Life as a Mother.

I had been thinking about and agonizing over the perfect Mother’s Day post. This site is mainly for Moms so I felt great pressure to make the post witty and touching, for you all to be able to relate and to TOTALLY represent my feelings on being a mother.

“My mark is my motherhood, my legacy is love.”

I remembered coming across a video last year from a show called Listen to Your Mother. Kristin Armstrong (Lance’s ex) gave a speech that made me laugh and cry and want to hug her for so wonderfully summing up what it means to be a modern mother. I found myself in the words of her “Maternal Minutes” so I decided to let her do the talking for me today. (It’s my day off, right?) I am proud to say along with her that “My name is Jennifer and I am Tessa’s mom.”

My 5 year old is VERY strong-willed. There have been quite a few days lately where we have spent AN ENTIRE 16 HOUR DAY butting heads. I admit that I sometimes forget she isn’t the devil incarnate. On these days, my only glimpses of the sweet, sweet girl I gave birth to tend to come back right around 7:00pm; fresh out of the tub, she looks like an angel. Squeaky clean in her jammies, sitting on the couch waiting for some snuggle time with her mommy. This is when we normally “reset” and I tell myself (and her) that tomorrow will be a better day.

I was really happy to come across this list from The Pennington Point on Pinterest today. It helped me to remember that I don’t have to wait until the end of a long & trying day to make things “right” again. I have used a few of these on my own when the going has gotten tough, but there are some pretty fresh and amazing tips here that don’t take long to do to help you get your day back on track.

Full credit for this list goes to Lisa Pennington @ The Pennington Point.

20 Ways to Reset Your Day

1. Deep Breath

I call out, “Deep breath!” Then everyone stands up and we all take long, slow breaths while we raise our hands over our heads. Then we let the air out slowly while we lower our arms. The whole movement is very slow and purposeful. We might do that a few times, then go back to our regular day.

2. Jumping Jacks

We all stop what we are doing and do 20 jumping jacks. This is especially good when they seem to have extra energy and need to use it. It’s hilarious to see the littler ones trying to coordinate their arms and legs.

3. The Color Game

If its not raining I take a stack of construction paper (each piece a different color), some tape and some tacks (I used to leave these in a drawer by the front door) and take it all outside. I tack or tape a whole piece of the paper to trees, the car, a bush, the front door….making sure they are spread out but I can see all of the colors from my chair (that I have set in the middle of it all). Then I sit in the chair and gather all of the kids around me and I say, “Ready……RED!”
Then they have to find the red paper and run to it. Once they are all there I call out another color and we keep doing it until they are exhausted. Sometimes I modify the game by calling a kid’s name with a color. You can let the older ones go faster with this version.

4. Play Stations in the Kitchen

Fill the sink half full with water & utensils, fill a 9×13 pan with rice, another with straws, a plastic bowl with beans. Set it all on the kitchen counter (table, whatever) and set the timer for 5 minutes. They play at each station for only 5 minutes then they switch. You stay in the kitchen with them the whole time giving attention to their made up games. In 20 minutes it’s over.

5. Emergency Toys

I keep toys tucked high up in a closet for just such an occasion. Pull them out of the closet and set the timer for 30 minutes. Once the timer goes off….the toys get put away for at least a month. That’s the only way they will work the next time.

6. Play a Game

We’ll all sit and play something unbelievably dull, like Go Fish or a simple board game. Sometimes all they need is for you to stop and give them your full attention for 15 minutes.

7. Music

Music is a-MAZ-ing for this kind of problem. If I don’t have the time to play games or make pans of rice in the kitchen, I will turn on some fun kid music and we’ll all dance around to one song. Mommy dances too (and Daddy if he’s home). One song can reset everyone’s attitude.

8. Tear Paper

Sometimes we all just need to do something wild and completely unexpected. So I will give each child 3 pieces of construction paper and we’ll stand in a circle and when I say, “GO!” we all start tearing up our paper and throwing it on the floor. We jump around and scream and laugh and giggle and fall down and throw the paper around for about 5 minutes. Then I say, “STOP!” and we have to clean it up as quickly and silly as we can.

9. Lie on the Grass

Often, when it’s not too wet, cold, hot…we go outside and lie on the grass. Everyone takes turns telling what they see in the clouds or, if there aren’t any clouds, I will ask them a question and we take turns answering. Sometimes we will do it on the trampoline instead of the grass.

10. Baths

These are not get-clean baths. These are play-baths. 15 minutes in the tub with a few toys and no washing hair. Just time to stop everything and play in the water.

11. Read a Book

If everyone is tired I will grab a book and read it aloud in an unusual way…with an accent, like a monster, while acting it out, hanging upside down off of the couch….something that makes it different.

12. Hold Hands

Sometimes everyone just needs Mom for a few minutes. So we’ll hold hands and walk around, outside if possible but inside works too. I’ll say something like, “Tell me what you liked about today,” and we’ll walk and talk and touch for a few minutes.

13. Quizzes

I’ll line them up in front of me and zing them with questions. They have to answer really quickly and if they take too long I say, “Zing!” and they have to fall down and get back up again. (If you’re not feeling creative, just think of a favorite book or movie and ask them questions about that, “What’s the name of the character that_____,” “Who had the last line in the movie?” “What
color was ____ wearing when she was running?”, etc.) This is especially good for nursing moms that need to sit for a few minutes and the older kids are needing attention.

14. Color Their Name

I write their name in really big, puffy letters and they get 3 Crayons to color it in. No sharing, no trading…just 3 colors…GO! If they like to write, they can draw your name and you color it.

15. Have a Snack

You sit with them and talk for just a few minutes. Don’t set them down and walk off. Just sit there for a few minutes and toast your glasses together and say, “To a better day!” and eat a little something.

16. The Whisper Game

I say, “Let’s play the Whisper Game!” and set the timer for 5-10 minutes. That whole time you sit and talk but everyone has to whisper. Do what you can to make it silly and animated, like lean to their ears or tiptoe around the room while you’re whispering.

17. Animals

I sit on the couch and and gather them around, with an arm length between them. Then I call out animals and they have to act like that animal until I change the animal. I might switch it up by calling out a specific child’s name with an animal.

18. Slow Down

This one is good to do after any of the other activities. We all move and talk in slow motion. I will walk around and they follow me and do what I do….all in slow motion. Then I give them turns being the leader. This is fun, but it takes the energy back down and you’re ready to go back to normal.

19. Crawling

I have everyone put shoes on their hands and crawl around until I say stop. Then they have to freeze like a statue until I say go. Sometimes I’ll call out pieces of furniture for them to crawl to. We’ll do this for about 15 minutes then stop and put the shoes away.

20. The Mystery Game

Fill a few “lidded” cups with 10 mystery items each (I use leftover yogurt containers). In the first cup put 10 beans, in another 10 toothpicks, in the third put 10 cotton balls, and so on. Cheerios, rocks, paper clips, macaroni, marshmallows, Cheetos, safety pins, etc. In a separate bowl put one of each item (a bean, a toothpick, a Cheerio, etc. all in the same bowl). Put lids on the cups and line them on the counter. The child has to figure out what is in the cup by shaking it and taking the matching item out of the bowl and setting it on the cup lid. Once they have figured it all out they can eat the little snacks in the cups. If you have more than one child doing it, they can take turns or you can make a set for each child.

****As you can see, the main focus of these activities is to stop what you are doing, stop rushing, stop being frustrated and spend a few minutes together doing something completely different. It is essential that Mom or Dad participate. That’s what really pushes the reset button.

Lisa was kind enough to provide a printable version of the 20 Ways to Reset Your Day List. You can find it HERE.

Can you add to the list? What do you do to reset your day? Feel free to share!

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